Text input method in touch screen terminal and apparatus therefor

ABSTRACT

A method and an apparatus input test in a touch screen terminal. The method comprises designating a certain region on a keyboard interface picture, not permitting text input through a keyboard when touch drag started from the designated region is sensed and acquiring a path of the touch drag, acquiring a path of following touch drag when at least the one or more following touch drag are sensed, and reading out at least the acquired one or more paths by cursive character recognition, deducing a character, determining the deduced character as an input target, and permitting the text input through the keyboard.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present application is a continuation of prior U.S. application Ser.No. 15/894,366, filed on Feb. 12, 2018, which has issued as U.S. Pat.No. 10,459,626 on Oct. 29, 2019; which is a continuation of prior U.S.application Ser. No. 15/399,629, filed on Jan. 5, 2017, which has issuedas U.S. Pat. No. 9,921,744 on Mar. 20, 2018; which is a continuation ofprior U.S. application Ser. No. 13/678,323, filed on Nov. 15, 2012,which has issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,569,091 on Feb. 14, 2017; and wasbased on and claimed priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) of a Koreanpatent application filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office onNov. 15, 2011 and assigned Serial No. 10-2011-0118958, the entiredisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to a text input method in a touch screenterminal and an apparatus therefor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Portable terminals such as mobile terminals (cellular phones),electronic schedulers, and personal complex terminals have becomenecessities of current society based on development of electroniccommunication industries. The portable terminals have developed intoimportant means of information transmission, which are quickly changed.

As everyone knows, recently, because utilization of a touch screenportable terminal is enhanced, the trend in a text input type is towarda text input method through a touch screen.

FIG. 1 illustrates interface pictures for text input in a conventionaltouch screen portable terminal.

Referring to FIG. 1, the touch screen portable terminal provides akeyboard interface picture and a cursive character recognition interfacepicture. The keyboard interface picture includes a keyboard 11 and aninput window 13 for displaying characters received through the keyboard11. Also, the cursive character recognition interface picture includes acursive character recognizer 14 for receiving touch drag and an inputwindow 15 for reading out the touch drag and displaying a deducedcharacter.

In general, a user must convert and use the keyboard interface pictureand the cursive character recognition interface picture. Therefore, thisresults in an inconvenience to the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, it is aprimary object to provide a method and apparatus for permitting textinput using a keyboard and cursive character recognition.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a method andapparatus for permitting text input using cursive character recognitionon a keyboard interface display or picture.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a text inputmethod in a touch screen terminal is provided. The text input methodincludes designating a certain region on a keyboard interface display orpicture, not permitting text input through a keyboard when touch dragstarted from the designated region is sensed and acquiring a path of thetouch drag, acquiring a path of following touch drag when at least theone or more following touch drag are sensed, and reading out at leastthe acquired one or more paths by cursive character recognition,deducing a character, determining the deduced character as an inputtarget, and permitting the text input through the keyboard.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a textinput apparatus in a touch screen terminal is provided. The text inputapparatus includes a controller for designating a certain region on akeyboard interface display or picture, not permitting text input througha keyboard when touch drag started from the designated region is sensed,and acquiring a path of the touch drag, wherein the controller acquiresa path of following touch drag when at least the one or more followingtouch drag is sensed and wherein the controller reads out at least theacquired one or more paths by cursive character recognition, deduces acharacter, determines the deduced character as an input target, andpermits the text input through the keyboard.

Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION below, itmay be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words andphrases used throughout this patent document: the terms “include” and“comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion withoutlimitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases“associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivativesthereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with,contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, becommunicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximateto, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and theterm “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controlsat least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware,firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same.It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particularcontroller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally orremotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are providedthroughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the artshould understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitionsapply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words andphrases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and itsadvantages, reference is now made to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 illustrates interface pictures for text input in a conventionaltouch screen portable terminal;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a portable terminal according toone embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a process of inputting characters according to oneembodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E illustrate interface displays or picturesfor text input according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 2 through 4E, discussed below, and the various embodiments used todescribe the principles of the present disclosure in this patentdocument are by way of illustration only and should not be construed inany way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the artwill understand that the principles of the present disclosure may beimplemented in any suitably arranged system or device. Exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure will be described herein belowwith reference to the accompanying drawings. In the followingdescription, well-known functions or constructions are not described indetail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail.Also, the terms used herein are defined according to the functions ofthe present disclosure. Thus, the terms may vary depending on user's oroperator's intension and usage. That is, the terms used herein must beunderstood based on the descriptions made herein.

The present disclosure described hereinafter relates to a method andapparatus for permitting text input using a keyboard and cursivecharacter recognition without converting an interface picture.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a portable terminal according toone embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, the portable terminal includes a touch screen unit21, a storage unit 22, and a controller 23.

The touch screen unit 21 receives an output signal and outputs thereceived output signal as an image under control of the controller 23.In addition, the touch screen unit 21 receives touch of a user andoutputs an input signal to the controller 23. The controller 23 performsan operation according to the input signal.

The storage unit 22 stores programs for controlling an overall operationof the portable terminal and a variety of data items input and outputwhen a control operation of the portable terminal is performed.

The controller 23 controls an overall operation of the portableterminal.

Hereinafter, a method of inputting characters in the controller 23according to one embodiment of the present disclosure will be describedin detail.

FIG. 3 illustrates a process of inputting characters according to oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the controller 23 designates a certainregion on a keyboard interface display or picture in step 301. Thecontroller 23 may allow a user to determine a range or position of theregion.

When touch drag started from the designated region is sensed in step303, the controller 23 proceeds to step 305, does not permit text inputthrough a keyboard, and acquires and displays a path of the touch drag.For example, the touch drag started from the designated region may ormay not be gotten out of the designated region.

When release of the touch drag is sensed in step 307, the controller 23proceeds to step 309 and verifies whether there is following touch dragwithin a threshold time. When the following touch drag is sensed withinthe threshold time in step 309, the controller 23 proceeds to step 315and acquires and displays a path of the following touch drag. Thecontroller 23 performs the processing from step 307.

When the following touch drag is no longer sensed within the thresholdtime in step 309, the controller 23 proceeds to step 311, reads out atleast the one or more acquired paths by cursive character recognition,deduces a character, and determines the deduced character as an inputtarget. For example, the controller 23 displays the deduced character onan input window of the keyboard interface display or picture in step311.

The controller 23 releases at least the one or more displayed paths andpermits text input through the keyboard in step 313.

When the path of the touch drag is displayed, the controller 23 displaysthe path of the touch drag on the keyboard interface picture. Forexample, the controller 23 may display the path of the touch drag on anoverlay display or picture or may display the path of the touch drag onthe keyboard interface display or picture itself.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E illustrate interface displays or picturesfor text input according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E, the controller 23provides a keyboard 41 and an input window 42 for displaying charactersinput through the keyboard 41. In addition, the controller 23 provides adesignated region 43 arranged with the keyboard 41 and the input window42.

As shown in FIG. 4A, a user starts touch drag 411 from the designatedregion 43. The controller 23 does not permit text input through akeyboard and performs cursive character recognition.

As shown FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C, when the cursive character recognition isperformed, the controller 23 acquires at least one or more paths of thetouch drag, reads out the acquired paths, and deduces a character. Thecontroller 23 acquires at least one or more paths of the touch draguntil the previous touch drag is released and there are no longer touchdrag within a threshold time. Particularly, the controller 23 displays asensed path of the touch drag on a picture of the display of thekeyboard 41, the input window 42, and the designated region 43. AfterFIG. 4A, the controller 23 provides the entire picture as a region ofthe touch drag for the cursive character recognition.

As shown in FIG. 4D, when there is no longer touch drag within thethreshold hold after the previous touch drag is released, the controller23 reads out at least the one or more acquired paths, deduces thecharacter, and displays the deduced character 431 on the input window42. In addition, the controller 23 permits text input through thekeyboard 41 again. As shown in FIGS. 4D and 4E, when a button 421 istouched, the controller 23 displays a mapped corresponding character 432on the input window 42.

In conclusion, because text input using cursive character recognition ispermitted on a keyboard interface picture, a text input method and anapparatus therefor according to one embodiment of the present disclosuresolve the trouble of converting the keyboard interface display orpicture into the cursive character recognition interface picture orconverting the cursive character recognition interface picture into thekeyboard interface picture.

While the present disclosure has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understoodby those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details maybe made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for inputting text in an electronicdevice including a touch screen, the method comprising: designating akeyboard and a designated region on the touch screen; detecting whethera touch is started from the keyboard or the designated region; inresponse to detecting the touch from the keyboard, detecting a key onthe keyboard corresponding to the detected touch, identifying a firstcharacter corresponding to the detected key, and inputting the firstcharacter; and in response to detecting the touch from the designatedregion, disabling text input through the keyboard, acquiring one or morepaths of the touch on the keyboard and the designated region,identifying a second character using character recognition based on theacquired one or more paths, inputting the second character, and enablingthe text input through the keyboard in response to inputting the secondcharacter.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying theone or more paths of the touch.
 3. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising removing the displayed one or more paths of the touch afterinputting the second character.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein theinputting of the second character which is identified using characterrecognition based on the acquired one or more paths is performed inresponse to identifying that no touch is sensed within a threshold timeafter a previous touch is released.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe designating of the region comprises determining a range or positionof the region.
 6. An electronic device comprising: a controllerconfigured to: designate a keyboard and a designated region on a touchscreen; detect whether a touch is started from the keyboard or thedesignated region; in response to detecting the touch from the keyboard,detect a key in the keyboard corresponding to the detected touch,identify a first character corresponding to the detected key, and inputthe first character; and in response to detecting the touch from thedesignated region, disable text input through the keyboard, acquire oneor more paths of the touch on the keyboard and the designated region,identify a second character using character recognition based on theacquired one or more paths, input the second character, and enable thetext input through the keyboard in response to inputting the secondcharacter.
 7. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the controlleris configured to display the one or more paths of the touch.
 8. Theelectronic device of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured toremove a display of the one or more paths of the touch after inputtingthe second character.
 9. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein thecontroller is configured to input the second character which isidentified using character recognition based on the acquired one or morepaths in response to identifying that no touch is sensed within athreshold time after a previous touch is released.
 10. The electronicdevice of claim 6, wherein the controller is configured to receive aninput from a user to designate a range or position of the region indesignating the region on the touch screen.
 11. The electronic device ofclaim 6, wherein the controller is configured to receive an input from auser to designate the region on the touch screen for disabling the textinput through the keyboard and enabling drag inputs.
 12. An electronicdevice comprising: a touch screen configured to display a keyboard; anda controller configured to: designate the keyboard and a designatedregion on the touch screen; detect whether a drag input is started fromthe keyboard or the designated region; and in response to detecting thedrag input from the designated region, disable text input through thekeyboard, acquire one or more paths of the drag input on the keyboardand the designated region, identify a character using characterrecognition based on the acquired one or more paths, input thecharacter, and enable the text input through the keyboard in response toinputting the character through the keyboard and the designated region.13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the touch screen isconfigured to display the one or more path of the drag input.
 14. Theelectronic device of claim 12, wherein the touch screen is configured todisplay the one or more path of the drag input on an overlay region onthe keyboard.
 15. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the touchscreen is configured to display the one or more paths of the drag inputon the displayed keyboard.
 16. The electronic device of claim 12,wherein the controller is configured to remove a display of the one ormore paths of the drag input after inputting the character.
 17. Theelectronic device of claim 12, wherein the controller is configured toidentify the character in response to identifying that no drag input hasbeen sensed within a threshold time after a previous drag input isreleased.